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Space

Submission + - Scientists Discover Universe's Largest Structure (discovery.com)

Submitted by
astroengine
astroengine writes: "What’s the biggest thing in the universe? That would be a cluster of quasars so large it would take a vehicle traveling at the speed of light 4 billion years to cross. The structure, known as a Large Quasar Group, or LQG, is so massive scientists say it may challenge a fundamental principle of cosmology, laid out by Albert Einstein, which states that when viewed on a sufficiently large scale, the properties of the universe are the same for all observers."
Moon

Submission + - GRAIL Mission Video Released (gizmag.com)

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "A new video was released today by NASA from the GRAIL mission probes, which ended their mission last month, as they impacted the lunar surface. 'Dramatic' footage was captured by the probe Ebb on December 14th. The video was taken from the 'MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school Students) cameras, it shows the view of Ebb flying at an altitude of 6 miles (10 km) above the Moon’s northern hemisphere in the vicinity of Jackson crater (22.4N 163.1W).' Two videos were released, one from the fore and one from the aft of the probe, showing a forwards and backwards time lapse containing 931 and 1,489 pictures each of the lunar terrain. The footage was part of the probes final systems check before they shut down and were sent into a controlled impact to a predetermined location."
Space

Submission + - Previously Unseen Stage of Planet Formation Observed (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "Seen from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile; scientists have detected a gas giant planet focusing material from a gas cloud towards a main star. The star, HD 142527, is a young 2 million years old, and is 450 light-years from Earth. The system has 'A disk of spinning dust and gas left over from its formation... and from this material, planets are being created'. The planetesimals, are drawing material from the dust cloud inward, effectively fueling the expansion of the parent star, currently twice the size of our own Sun. 'Theoretical simulations have predicted such bridges between outer and inner portions of disks surrounding stars, but none have been directly observed until now.' Simon Casassus, lead scientist at the University of Chile, stated that 'Currently, the only mechanism known to produce such gap-crossing dense molecular flows, with residual carbon monoxide gas more diffusely spread out inside the gap, is planetary formation.' While the planets currently are not visible, their presence is very noticeable, more examination of the dust cloud is needed to precisely pinpoint the planet(s)."
Moon

Submission + - Origin of Neil Armstrong's 'One Small Step' Line Revealed (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "In an upcoming BBC Documentary, Dean Armstrong, the brother of astronaut Neil Armstrong, reveals when the world famous 'one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind' line originated. For years, people have argued over when Armstrong came up with the line, whether it was on the spot or planned years ahead. Also debated is whether Armstrong meant to include 'a' before man, making the indefinite article 'man', which alludes to mankind, into a singular, 'a man', himself. According to Dean Armstrong, the quote was shared to him over a board game, months before the mission began. He says, 'We started playing Risk and then he [Neil] slipped me a piece of paper and said 'read that’. I did. On that piece of paper there was 'That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’. He says 'what do you think about that?’ I said 'fabulous’. He said 'I thought you might like that, but I wanted you to read it’. He then added: 'It was 'that is one small step for A man’'. Armstrong had always insisted that he had said 'a', that that it was lost in communication static. This new story however conflicts with what Neil told James Hansen for his biography, stating he came up with the quote on the lunar surface. More on the historic moon landing and the life of Neil Armstrong in the new documentary Neil Armstrong- First Man on the Moon, on BBC."
Transportation

Submission + - Steve Jobs' Yacht Impounded in Amsterdam (cnn.com)

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "The Venus, Steve Jobs' custom-made mega yacht, (valued at 137.5 million dollars), has been impounded in Amsterdam. Philippe Starck, the boat's main designer, had The Venus impounded by debt collectors, after supposedly Starck and his company, Ubik, were paid only 6 million of the 9-million-euro commission. Roelant Klaassen, a lawyer for Ubik, released in a statement that 'These guys [Jobs and Starck] trusted each other, so there wasn't a very detailed contract.' 'The Venus is a floating ode to both Jobs and Starck's minimalist aesthetic. Made entirely out of aluminum, with 40-foot-long floor-to-ceiling windows lining the passenger compartment and seven 27-inch iMacs making up the command center.' The ship was unofficially unveiled in late October, a year after Jobs' death. It now sits dormant in the Port of Amsterdam, until the payment dispute is resolved."
Moon

Submission + - Twin Probes Crash into the Moon (nytimes.com)

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "After their yearlong mission to map the Moon’s gravitational field, twin probes Ebb and Flow crashed into the lunar surface, ending the GRAIL mission. The crashes were controlled events, each impacting 30 seconds apart from each other. The twin spacecraft were running low on maneuvering fuel and NASA, not wanting the crafts to fall on historical sites such as the Apollo landing sites, redirected their flight patterns to impart the far (dark) side of the moon. Their impact sites were named after Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. 'During the news conference last week, Maria T. Zuber, the principal investigator, said the probes would be crashing into a “non-sunlit” part of the surface.' When the site becomes sunlit again in several weeks, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will attempt to take pictures of the craters the probes undoubtedly made in the lunar soil."
Mars

Submission + - Curiosity Rover Find Carbon Molecules (newscientist.com)

Submitted by SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: Following wide speculation of the earth shattering news that the mars Curiosity rover has found, the Rover today confirmed that it has found http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22571-curiosity-finds-carbon--but-is-it-from-mars.html ">carbon based compounds in the Martian air and soil. One of the Rover’s main missions was to search for traces of Martian life, because we humans are composed of complex carbon molecules, this is exciting news for the prospect of past life on Mars. This news may be preeminent though. This may be merely a diagnostic error made by the Rover’s intricate programming. “The team will compare the result to tests of a sample of carbon-based material brought from Earth, Paul Mahaffy, SAM's principal investigator, said at the AGU meeting. ‘If we see the same stuff that we thought might be from Mars, we’ve got to say, ‘Hold the show, this might be terrestrial stuff'.’” As the Rover prepares to travel up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolis_Mons">Aeolis Mons, more data will be collected to continue the hunt for life on Mars. Dun dunduuuuuuuuun’
Idle

Submission + - Study Claims Bigfoot is Half Human (discovery.com)

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "Melba S. Ketchum, a veterinarian from Texas, has announced she has proof that the mythical creature Bigfoot, is part human. A release statement says that, "A team of scientists can verify that their five-year long DNA study, currently under peer-review, confirms the existence of a novel hominin hybrid species, commonly called 'Bigfoot' or 'Sasquatch,' living in North America", which supposedly arose around 15,000 years ago. Within the study, Ketchum apparently got hold of three genomes of "Sasquatch" DNA, and found the mitochondrian DNA (mtDNA), was identical to modern Homo Sapiens. The study continues, that "Our data indicate[s] that the North American Sasquatch is a hybrid species, the result of males of an unknown hominin species crossing with female Homo sapiens." So where is the data to support this? Currently there is none, at least, there isn't proof given by Ketchum's team thus far. Whether this is legitimate or just another hoax to prove the existence of a the yet-to-be-actually-proven creature is still undecided In a personal statement from Ketchum, she asks the American government to see the mythical creature as, "an indigenous people and immediately protect their human and Constitutional rights against those who would see in their physical and cultural differences a 'license' to hunt, trap, or kill them.""
The Internet

Submission + - U.S Congressman Wants to Ban Internet Bills (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "Representative Darrell Issa, a republican congressman from California, has drafted a bill for the internet. The bill, aptly named the Internet American Moratorium Act (IAMA), is, "a two-year moratorium on any new laws, rules or regulations governing the Internet." In short it hopes to deny any new government bills related to lawmaking on the internet for the next two years. The bill was first made public on the website Reddit, and is currently on the front page of Keepthewebopen.com, a website advocating internet rights. "Together we can make Washington take a break from messing w/ the Internet," Issa writes on his Reddit post. The initial response to the bill has been mixed. Users of Reddit are skeptical of the paper's motives and credibility. As of now, the bill is just a discussion draft, whether it will gain footing in the future is up in the air."

Submission + - Large Hadron Collider May Have Produced New Matter (talkingpointsmemo.com)

Submitted by Covalent
Covalent writes: The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator and the “Big Bang machine” that was used to discover what appears to be the long-sought Higgs boson particle (as announced July 4), may have another surprise up its sleeve this year: The LHC looks to have produced a new type of matter, according to a new analysis of particle collision data by scientists at MIT and Rice University.

The new type of matter, which has yet to be verified, is theorized to be one of two possible forms: Either “color-glass condensate” — a flattened nucleus transformed into a “wall” of gluons, which are smaller binding subatomic particles, or it could be “quark-gluon plasma,” a dense, soup or liquid-like collection of individual particles.
NASA

Submission + - Longest U.S Space Mission Planned for 2015 (cnn.com) 1

Submitted by SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: Capitan Scott Kelly, brother of former commander Mark Kelly, will embark on the United State’s longest manned space mission, set for 2015. Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will spend an entire year on the orbiting International Space station. The mission will be a first for the NASA’s space program, but it is far from the world record. The longest recorded time in space was the 438 day mission of Russia’s Valery Polyakov, working on the Mir Space Station 1994-1995. Kelly, a decorated Navy captain received degrees from “State University of New York Maritime College and the University of Tennessee,” and was the flight engineer for the space station expedition 25, and commander of expedition 25 in 2010. “Kornienko hails from Russia's Syzran, Kuibyshev, region and has worked in the space industry since 1986.” The yearlong study on humans working in space will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, spring 2015.
Canada

Submission + - Canada Resumes Nuclear Trade with India (theglobeandmail.com)

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on his recent trip to India, reopened the trading of Canadian nuclear material with India for the first time in four decades. Canada will once again supply India with uranium and nuclear hardware, used for the growing power industry Asia. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's spokesperson reiterates, that "The two countries have agreed that “uranium will only be going to those [nuclear] facilities inspected by the IAEA." In the past India and Canada traded nuclear material until 1976 when India tested its first ever plutonium bomb using Canadian material. Since then Canada has stopped all nuclear trade with the country. Mr. Harper, having spent 6 days in India, met with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and negotiated the resumption of their nuclear trading. In 2010 a similar agreement was made, but was scrapped by Canada's insistence to verify where their nuclear material was going. Both sides believe this will be beneficial in the creation of jobs and power to run India's fast growing economy."
Lord of the Rings

Submission + - New Dinosaur Named After the Eye of Sauron (nationalgeographic.com) 1

Submitted by
SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: "A new study shows that 95 million years ago, the dinosaur Sauroniops pachytholus roamed northern Africa. The fossil, originally found in southern Morocco, only consisted of the upper skull, which included the eerie looking eye socket which resembles the Eye of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings movies. Andrea Cau, the leader of the study in Bologna, Italy, explains "The idea of a predator that is physically known only as its fierce eye reminded me of Sauron, in particular as depicted in Peter Jackson's movies." Using skull comparison, it is theorized the two-legged meat-eater would have been 40 feet tall, challenging the Tyrannosaurus Rex in height. More fossils are needed for a full analysis, but so far it is very clear this dinosaur towered over many."
NASA

Submission + - Hurricane Sandy Damages Space Shuttle Enterprise (gizmag.com)

Submitted by SchrodingerZ
SchrodingerZ writes: The now decommissioned Space Shuttle Enterprise appears to have been damaged by super storm Sandy, as it blew through New York City. The shuttle is currently on display on the deck of the USS Intrepid, as part of the Sea, Air, and Space museum on pier 86. The storm tore through the shuttle's inflatable pavilion which housed it, leaving a deflated mess over the space craft. It appears that the pavilion has damaged the vertical stabilizer on the tail of the craft. The museum has yet to comment on the situation. This is not the first time The Enterprise has been damaged however. As it was being towed through Jamaica Bay en route to its new home in Manhattan, the barge was hit by wind and forced the spacecraft' wingtip into a railroad bridge pylon .

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